Political languages of land and taxation: European and American influences on Japan, 1880s to 1920s

Abstract

When the mission of Carl S. Shoup arrived in Japan in 1949, the Japanese framework of taxation had already developed within a tradition dating from the land tax reform in 1872. In a long history under a feudal system, provincial domains had collected taxes mostly in the forms of the rice tribute and compulsory labor. During the 1870s, the newly established Meiji Government reformed the land tax paid in cash at a uniform nationwide rate. This meant that the financial base for that period consisted mainly of land taxation. Following this, the Meiji Government promoted a new scheme of taxation by combining the land tax with other taxes, including the income tax established in 1887. Even during the early 1890s, however, the land tax share of national revenues remained at more than half. Around the time of the Chinese-Japanese war in the mid-1890s, Japanese public finance gradually diversified because of expenditures. The Japanese government turned to a combination of direct and indirect taxation and increasing public debt. The debt grew as a consequence of the warfare that culminated in World War II, leading to the final stage of the tax reform in 1940. Throughout the period until the end of WWII, some important parts of national revenue were still supported by the land tax. The condition of national revenue was therefore tightly linked to the relationship between landlords, including absentee owners and the peasantry. In the liberal reform of the post-WWII era, the traditional land tax was abolished through the land reform scheme of 1946, transforming peasants into farmers who owned their own land. This ending of the traditional landlord-peasantry relationship produced a radical change in the basis of national finance, and this provided an important context for the mission of Shoup and his colleagues in 1949.

Original language

English

Title of host publication

The Political Economy of Transnational Tax Reform: The Shoup Mission to Japan in Historical Context

title = "Political languages of land and taxation: European and American influences on Japan, 1880s to 1920s",

author = "Yasunori Fukagai",

year = "2010",

month = "1",

doi = "10.1017/CBO9781139519427.012",

isbn = "9781139519427",

pages = "143--166",

booktitle = "The Political Economy of Transnational Tax Reform: The Shoup Mission to Japan in Historical Context",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - Political languages of land and taxation

T2 - European and American influences on Japan, 1880s to 1920s

AU - Fukagai,Yasunori

PY - 2010/1/1

Y1 - 2010/1/1

N2 - When the mission of Carl S. Shoup arrived in Japan in 1949, the Japanese framework of taxation had already developed within a tradition dating from the land tax reform in 1872. In a long history under a feudal system, provincial domains had collected taxes mostly in the forms of the rice tribute and compulsory labor. During the 1870s, the newly established Meiji Government reformed the land tax paid in cash at a uniform nationwide rate. This meant that the financial base for that period consisted mainly of land taxation. Following this, the Meiji Government promoted a new scheme of taxation by combining the land tax with other taxes, including the income tax established in 1887. Even during the early 1890s, however, the land tax share of national revenues remained at more than half. Around the time of the Chinese-Japanese war in the mid-1890s, Japanese public finance gradually diversified because of expenditures. The Japanese government turned to a combination of direct and indirect taxation and increasing public debt. The debt grew as a consequence of the warfare that culminated in World War II, leading to the final stage of the tax reform in 1940. Throughout the period until the end of WWII, some important parts of national revenue were still supported by the land tax. The condition of national revenue was therefore tightly linked to the relationship between landlords, including absentee owners and the peasantry. In the liberal reform of the post-WWII era, the traditional land tax was abolished through the land reform scheme of 1946, transforming peasants into farmers who owned their own land. This ending of the traditional landlord-peasantry relationship produced a radical change in the basis of national finance, and this provided an important context for the mission of Shoup and his colleagues in 1949.

AB - When the mission of Carl S. Shoup arrived in Japan in 1949, the Japanese framework of taxation had already developed within a tradition dating from the land tax reform in 1872. In a long history under a feudal system, provincial domains had collected taxes mostly in the forms of the rice tribute and compulsory labor. During the 1870s, the newly established Meiji Government reformed the land tax paid in cash at a uniform nationwide rate. This meant that the financial base for that period consisted mainly of land taxation. Following this, the Meiji Government promoted a new scheme of taxation by combining the land tax with other taxes, including the income tax established in 1887. Even during the early 1890s, however, the land tax share of national revenues remained at more than half. Around the time of the Chinese-Japanese war in the mid-1890s, Japanese public finance gradually diversified because of expenditures. The Japanese government turned to a combination of direct and indirect taxation and increasing public debt. The debt grew as a consequence of the warfare that culminated in World War II, leading to the final stage of the tax reform in 1940. Throughout the period until the end of WWII, some important parts of national revenue were still supported by the land tax. The condition of national revenue was therefore tightly linked to the relationship between landlords, including absentee owners and the peasantry. In the liberal reform of the post-WWII era, the traditional land tax was abolished through the land reform scheme of 1946, transforming peasants into farmers who owned their own land. This ending of the traditional landlord-peasantry relationship produced a radical change in the basis of national finance, and this provided an important context for the mission of Shoup and his colleagues in 1949.